At the 2021 Sao Paulo GP, Verstappen was caught touching Hamilton ‘s rear wing after qualifying and was fined €50,000 for it.
The Barcelona photo appears to have been taken some time after the podium ceremony, as the cars moved from where they initially parked after the checkered flag and lined up side by side in Parc Fermé.
Lewis Hamilton was called for doping control immediately after the race, for which he had to go to the circuit’s medical center.
So it would appear that the photo was taken on his way back from that test, long after the podium ceremony.
It’s not entirely clear from that angle if Hamilton was actually touching the wing of Sergio Perez’s car or just going behind the car and the railings there.
There can also be questions about the timing and whether the cars were still officially in parc fermé conditions, although they are usually taken away by their teams as soon as they are officially released by the FIA.
Verstappen’s action in Brazil was found to violate article 2.5.1 of the FIA International Sporting Code, which states: “Inside the parc fermé, only assigned officials may enter. No operation, verification, adjustment or repair unless authorized by the same officials or by applicable regulations”.
On that occasion, there was one ingredient that added spice to the story, as Hamilton’s wing subsequently failed scrutineering and in effect disqualified the Englishman.
The stewards examined on board images of various cars in the parc fermé, as well as videos taken by fans and posted on social media.
The stewards agreed that although Max Verstappen had touched the Mercedes, he had not exerted any force on the wing and therefore had not contributed to the car not complying with the rules.
However, they made it clear in their verdict that the Red Bull driver should not have touched the car, fining him €50,000.
And they pointed it out like this: “It is clear to the stewards that it has become a habit for the drivers to touch the cars after qualifying and the races.”
This was also Verstappen’s explanation, saying that it was simply customary to touch that area of the car, which has been a subject of debate and dispute between the teams.
“That general trend has been seen as mostly harmless and therefore has not been uniformly policed. However, it is a violation of the park fermé rule and has significant potential to cause harm.”
“Considering the fact that no direct harm was caused in this case, in the stewards’ view, and that there is no previous precedent for penalties for this, on the one hand, but that it is a rule infringement and has the potential to serious consequences on the other, the sports stewards decide to take action in this case and order a fine of €50,000,” the sentence read.
“The stewards intend that all teams and drivers take note that future offenses may incur different penalties from the stewards of those events.”
The FIA added more clarity on the matter in this year’s F1 sporting rules. Article 60.5 states that “drivers must not interfere with the Parc Fermé protocols in any way”.
Motorsport.com has asked the FIA to comment on what happened.
